BlueCircle

ROUND ROCK OH MY GOD THEY MUST BE SO HAPPY OMGI AM SO HAPPY FOR THEM (sorry for yelling)

Panel 2 inflated? Don’t come for me y’all...just an observation

Here’s my list that’s probably wrong. Think there’s a solid top 10, and then a huge bubble to fill the last 4 spots. Reagan FloMo Vandy Hebron Leander CTJ TWHS Marcus Vista Ridge Keller James Bowie Vista Murrieta LD Bell Coppell ——————— Cedar Park Westlake Westwood Cedar Ridge Pearland Rouse Basically any of the bubble can replace the ones in 11-14. But I’m confident on the top 10...if any miss, I would be very surprised to say the least.

It’s definitely a possibility, and with the strength of the bubble, a tie would be warranted.

I love TWHS’ show so much! It’s so cute and has so much character. They’ll be in finals but I have no idea where the judges will put them.

Vista Ridge was awesome!!! A few dirty music moments but unless TWHS really kills it, I think Vista might have that last spot in the top half locked up.

Pearland is great! If they can nail a design and bring some solid GE in the future, I can definitely see them becoming a finalist band. They are on the brink of a break out year akin to Westwood in my opinion.

I feel like this competition is so much more insane than last year! So many bands that deserve a spot it’s crazy, and this one only day one!!!

This is just my (probably bad) opinion so Round Rock could definitely be fighting for finals! Although, judges have consistently nailed RR at this competition for less than stellar design. The kids are so talented and deserve better.

I didn’t want to make a list for the day because it would be horribly incorrect, so I made categories...that are still probably horribly incorrect. Each grouping could be in any order imo. Reagan - My clear favorite in visual and GE. May not win music but they will be hard to beat. All three gave awesome performances that truly blew me away: FloMo Vandegrift Leader CTJ - felt off. Low energy. Still the depth of the show will keep them in top half easily. Keller - A step down in design (so many Nats attendees!) from the ones above but a definite step up in demand from the ones below in my opinion. Huge group that could go any way: Cedar Park Coppell Vista Murrieta Bowie Westlake Cedar Ridge Westwood Rouse Outside chance but still great: Clear Brook Lake Travis Round Rock

Maybe I’m the odd one out but I think Vista Murrieta was good but got lost in the music depth of Texas bands. The color guard was fantastic but that’s to expect from an out of state group that has a great WGI presence. Idk, I’m just not as wowed as some others. The demand seemed weaker than I expected, but maybe my expectations were too high. Right off the bat, the ensemble sound was different to me and not in a necessarily good way. I guess I don’t have an eye for visual design but I found it to be mostly standard. At least from a demand perspective.

FloMo’s show just keeps getting better as it goes. And they brought some surprise additions!

Coppell has such a good show this year! Unfortunately, I think the field is so stacked that they might (I really hope they make it) be on the outside looking in. After a few “meh” years, I’m so glad that they hit on something SO special this year (and last year).

Cedar Park was great! Nice and clean but the show lacks GE and musical difficulty to me, definitely a state show. I think it’s too easy for them! Another strong case for finals, but like last year, they might not be the lock they once were.

I saw a pretty nasty fall in the beginning of Vandy’s show, darn you Alamodome turf!!

Reagan, Vandy, Leander, CTJ are obviously locks so far Keller very likely Bowie probably? Cedar Ridge, Westwood, Westlake, and Clear Brook were all very strong and would be deserving of finals spots. Still too early to tell though

They had bus issues so they perform tomorrow morning.

Leander BLEW ME AWAY! Favorite of theirs since 2014’s Color Study. Holy crap colorguard! I’m speechless!

Vandegrift was SO GOOD! Easily in my top two of the day. Mesmerized by how much they move and how clean it is!!!

I’ve been saying this all season, but there’s a lot of danger in trying to recapture magic by doing a sequel show. CTJ 2017 is one of the best modern shows ever so it’s hard to imagine that anything would be able to top it. I will say, today CTJ brought a lot of depth in emotion that I’m not used to from them! I think I want to see them explore that more in the future. Easy top half lock and will likely challenge for a medal, but we’ll see!

CTJ was great! But I can’t help myself from comparing them to Reagan. Reagan accomplishes SO MUCH with no bells and whistles. CTJ will do just fine here but Regan easily has the more engaging and well performed show. I felt that the show was missing some bigger moments that CTJ is known for? I think I was expecting more energy?? Idk still a fantastic production!

OH MY GOD!!! Reagan said “beat that”

Bowie! They do not want to be left out this year!! A bit too much running around for my tastes but very strong in all aspects!!

Hendrickson is better than judges have been giving them credit for, but the design is a bit of a miss. The vocal soloists is fantastic but there’s too much of a focus on her and the band almost feels secondary in a lot of spots.

Oddly the thing I was the most impressed by from Keller was the individual visual! All that drill in front of the sideline showed off some seriously good technique.